3 Easy and Healthy One-Pot Pasta Dinners for Busy Weeknights

This post was written in partnership with my friends at Catelli Pasta. As always, opinions are always my own!

Is it just me, or does it seem like Summer turned to Fall in the blink of an eye?! All of a sudden we went from beach days and cabin trips to early mornings, endless activities and lunchbox packing! Well now that we’re in the thick of it, and I have not one but TWO kids in school, I’m reminded of just how important it is to have easy weeknight dinner recipes on hand for those crazy weeknights. And what’s easier than a good one-pot meal, right?! Who’s with me?!

Parents everywhere feel pressure to feed their families well. In fact, Catelli conducted a survey and found out that more than a third (37%) of Canadian parents feel overwhelmed by the sense of responsibility to raise their children with healthy eating habits; 43% stressing about their children’s eating habits at least once a day. Familiar?

Because we love love love pasta in our house, we decided to experiment with a few new quick and easy pasta recipes that are perfect for those chaotic weeknights when you only have half an hour to whip something up for your crew. No fancy ingredients here — just nutritious whole-food ingredients that you’d have in your fridge and pantry anyways. We chose to use Catelli’s new Smart Veggie pasta for all three, because it tastes just like regular white pasta (which my kids love) but unbeknownst to them, boasts 8 grams of fibre per serving and includes real whole-food ingredients like oats, cauliflower and carrots! This makes momma very happy 🙂

And in honour of keeping it real…

Along with the regularly busyness of life with young kids (and the fact that novice hockey and gymnastics has taken over my life), we’re going through some fairly significant transitions in our house and within our family (more on this to come), that has added some complexity and stress to our days, so having easy, go-to meals that are nourishing and tasty, for chaotic weeknights is key. And I know I’m not alone in this!

So, without further ado, here they are. Enjoy!

﻿

Creamy Chicken and Broccoli One-Pot Pasta

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp butter

2 tsp garlic, minced

1/2 cup sundried tomato (I used jarred sundried tomatoes)

1 package Catelli Smart Pasta (I used bows)

1 cup water

2 cups low sodium chicken broth

2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast

2-3 cups broccoli, washed and cut into small florets

1/2 cup half and half cream

1/2 cup fresh parmesan, grated

Directions

Heat olive oil and butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add sundried tomatoes, garlic and sauté for 1 minute.

Add the pasta, water and broth and stir, bringing to a light boil (increase temp to medium-high). Cover, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add broccoli and chicken, cover, and cook 5 minutes more, until pasta is al dente. Uncover and cook at a low simmer for 2 minutes.

Stir in the half and half and Parmesan. Enjoy!

One-Pot Vegetarian Mexican Mac and Cheese

serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

4-5 mini carrots, diced

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

salt to taste

2-14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes

1-15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1-15 oz can lentils, rinsed and drained

green onion

2.5 cups cheese

1 package of Catelli Smart Veggie Macaroni

2 cups water

1/4 cup green onion, diced

Directions

Heat the oil in a large skillet or pot over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and carrots and cook until softened, stirring occasionally, until tender and aromatic.

Add garlic chili powder, cumin, and salt to the pan with the vegetables and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds. Stir in the diced tomatoes, Catelli Smart Veggie pasta, beans, lentils and water. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta is “al dente” about 12-15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in most of the cheese, reserving a little for sprinkling on top. Sprinkle on the remaining cheese and chopped green onions. Enjoy!

INSTRUCTIONS

Place tomatoes, sausage, onion, basil, dry pasta, water, garlic and salt and pepper into a large (and deep) pan. Cover and bring to a light boil. Turn down to a simmer, remove cover and stir, stirring in pesto. Cook 7-9 minutes until pasta is al dente. Toss pasta with tongs occasionally to keep the pasta from sticking. The liquid will be mostly absorbed when pasta is finished cooking. *you can also wait to add pesto until the end of this step*

Add cheese and toss to combine. Cheese may clump but will melt into the sauce after a few minutes. Enjoy!

And if you’re anything like me, and love to send leftovers for lunch the next day, these are the BEST lunchbox additions

Hi Stacy. I would send them cold (ie. cold-pasta salad). It’s important to serve and keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot. If I was to send hot pasta I would probably put in a different container, so they could heat up individually, or send in a thermos. Hope this helps!